You are here

Commentary by Murray Pollitt on the events of September 11

Section: Daily Dispatches

9:36p ET Tuesday, October 2, 2001

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Reg Howe reports that the hearing on the dismissal
motions in his lawsuit against the Bank for
International Settlements and the other suppressors
of the gold price has been postponed a month by Judge
Reginald C. Lindsay in U.S. District Court in Boston.

The judge's order rescheduling the hearing may be
encouraging insofar as it suggests that he is taking
the case seriously:

quot;The clerk has scheduled for hearing on Tuesday,
October 9, 2001, the several motions to dismiss this
action. Because of the number of such motions and the
myriad issues they raise, I will require more time to
study the parties' submissions. Accordingly, the
hearing in this matter is rescheduled to Monday,
November 5, 2001, at 2 p.m.quot;

We'll keep you posted.

On another issue....

While anything that increases demand for gold may be
welcomed, the gold industry plan announced today for
dramatically increasing the marketing of gold as
jewellery has to be a deep disappointment to those of
us who recognize gold primarily as money and who
realize that the gold price is being set not by supply
and jewellery demand but by central bank gold leasing
and derivative paper -- all aimed at gold's use as
money. If only the industry could put into a campaign
against the gold price suppression scheme even half a
percent of the expenditure contemplated here.

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

* * *

DENVER (BUSINESS WIRE) Oct. 2, 2001--The gold mining
industry unveiled plans today for a major gold
marketing initiative aimed at increasing demand for
gold jewellery. The proposed US$200 million annual
investment follows a rigorous and independent review of
the case for marketing gold by the management
consulting firm McKinsey amp; Co. as well as extensive
discussions within the global gold industry.

quot;With the support of gold producers from across the
world, small and large, we intend to launch this
campaign in the spring of 2002,quot; said Randall
Oliphant, chairman of the Gold Marketing Initiative
Steering Committee and president and chief executive
officer of Barrick Gold Corp. quot;This sustained and
focused commitment would be beyond any marketing effort
that our industry has undertaken before.quot;

A marketing campaign of this scale could grow demand
over baseline for gold jewellery by as much as 340 to
500 tonnes of gold annually by 2006. The plans call for
leveraging the current marketing efforts of the World
Gold Council by merging the new effort with the
existing advertising resources of the council.

The marketing initiative would include consumer
advertising, trade marketing initiatives, and public
relations. quot;What we're really talking about is one
coherent marketing campaign with contributions from
gold producers -- World Gold Council members and non-
members alike,quot; said Mr. Oliphant. quot;It's time to take
this compelling single effort to the next stage and
compete for consumer dollars. It's time for gold to do
what Gucci does for luxury apparel, DeBeers does for
diamonds, and other industries do to promote their own
product.quot;

The Gold Marketing Initiative will be monitored for
success against measurable performance benchmarks,
including retail jewellery sales, and consumer and
retail behavior. It envisions pilot projects to be
launched in major markets throughout 2002, with a full
ramp-up by 2003. By 2004, the plan calls for individual
gold producers to contribute US$4 per ounce of gold
produced to sustain an annual US$200 million campaign.

The Steering Committee has built significant support
for the plan in the past year and now intends to secure
the financial commitments to launch the campaign.

The committee is comprised of representatives from the
following companies: AngloGold, Barrick Gold, Gympie
Gold, Kinross Gold, Randgold Resources, and Sons of
Gwalia, and is supported by the Australian Gold
Council, The Gold Institute, and Credit Suisse First
Boston.

The independent study by McKinsey amp; Co. and the
Steering Committee's efforts have been supported by a
majority of gold producers in major gold-producing
regions such as North America, South Africa, and
Australia.

_________________________________________________

If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please consider
making a financial contribution. GATA welcomes
contributions as follows.

By check:

Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA

By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:

a href=http://www.gata.org/creditcard.htmlhttp://www.gata.org/creditcard.html/a

By bank wire:

Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Savings Bank of Manchester
923 Main St.
Manchester, CT 06040
USA
Bank routing number 211-170-185
For account number 9500-574-053

By GoldMoney:

a href=http://www.GoldMoney.comhttp://www.GoldMoney.com/a
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L

By E-Gold:

a href=http://www.e-gold.comhttp://www.e-gold.com/a
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Account number 110915

GATA is a civil rights and educational organization
under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and contributions
to it are tax-deductible in the United States.